time failed us (but I'll be bringing you back home when it's all over)
by time-failed-us
Summary: "I found you after fifteen years of missing you and now you're just going to leave?" "Yeah, I'm giving you a taste of your own medicine, Grace." "Time can't fail us now. We have forever to fall apart and come back together." Post-books. Jeyna.
Another attempt at a 10 minute fic gone wrong. ARgh, I hate this about me- I just cannot stop until I feel satisfied, otherwise I just stew and steam and eventually go back to it to finish like I wanted to. I hope you guys like it.

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 **Time Failed Us (but I'll be bringing you back home when it's all over)**

"Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, please."

The woman at the reception looked at Jason strangely. She checked her book, flipping through the large pages, then looked up at him again before double-checking. "I'm sorry," she sighed. "We don't have that name in our books. You must be mistaken."

Jason frowned. When she had decided to leave Camp Jupiter for the outside world, Reyna must have changed her name to disguise herself. She was probably trying to avoid being found like this. Jason tried and failed to push down the knot of guilt in his stomach that he was the one to blame for driving her away from New Rome, which had always been where Reyna belonged.

He briefly remembered a quest that they had gone on together when they were only thirteen. She had used an alias in lieu of her real name, fearing for their safety.

"Sorry, I must have forgotten," he turned back to the plump lady, forcing a smile onto his face that was undoubtedly sadder than he hoped. "Try Lara Gold."

The lady frowned, probably thinking that Jason must be delusional to mistake such a short name for another that was twelve syllables long. "She's in Room 201, ICU."

Jason nodded in thanks, quickly striding off towards the ICU. The walls were bleach white, as were the coats on all of the staff and doctors. It was as if he had stepped into heaven, or what mortals believed heaven looked like—in reality, the Underworld was nothing close to this.

He had received a cryptic text from Nico yesterday, telling him to go to this particular hospital and ask for Reyna. Jason couldn't help his speeding heartrate. Something really serious must have happened to Reyna for her to be in the intensive care unit.

People believed that he didn't care, but he did. He had never stopped caring for Reyna. It had been fifteen years since they had last seen each other, since she had suddenly disappeared from New Rome right after stepping down as praetor and putting Hazel in her position. In fact, Jason himself had been on the team of demigods searching for her, but they had all failed. Reyna clearly did not want to be found.

He knew that he should have kept on searching, should have refused to give up on her. But he also knew that Reyna would not have left her only home unless she wanted to be truly alone. So, he called the mission off, told Gwen, Dakota, Bobby, Percy and Leo to stop, and tried convinced himself that her wishes were more important than the pain her friends felt from the loss.

Nico had clearly kept in contact with her. Jason wanted to hate the shadowy guy for it, but was kind of glad that Reyna had someone she was familiar with to be there for her. At least she hadn't been alone.

Jason halted his thoughts, realising that he had been standing in front of room 201 for some time now, just staring at the door.

"Come in," said a soft voice, startling the blond man. He hadn't even knocked.

The room was bare, not a hint of anything personal obstructing the pale, cold white walls. In the centre was a hospital bed, and on the hospital bed sat a person he had not seen in fifteen years. Next to the bed was an array of quietly beeping and blinking medical equipment, all connected to the person's body in some way through wires and cords.

He must have been lost in thought again at the shock of seeing the strongest person he knew looking so tired, tied down to a hospital bed.

"Jason," Reyna rasped, erupting into a fit of coughs until he broke out of his spell to hand her a cup of water. She drank, closing her eyes at the cool liquid travelling down her throat. "You came."

"Of course I did, Rey," he replied softly, sitting down on a chair next to her bed. Gently, watching her too-pale face for any sign of discomfort, he took her smaller hand between his larger ones. "And I would have come sooner if I could."

She smiled, the corners of her mouth quirking up ever so slightly, as mysterious and alluring as Jason remembered. "Well, I made it harder for you, didn't I?"

Jason chuckled. "Yeah, you really did. I tried looking for you, but you didn't want to be found. I should never have stopped. What happened to you?"

Reyna shook her head, her dark gaze wistful. "No, you did the right thing. I had a good, mostly monster- and drama-free fifteen years." She squeezed Jason's hand, bringing him back to the times when she would inadvertently do the same thing before they headed into battle. Yes, his memories had come back eventually. He understood all of Reyna's pain and why she had wanted to escape from the cursed life of a demigod. "I became a lawyer, Jason. Another way of fighting that wouldn't require swords, just words. I was on a case of a serial killer who was murdering young teenagers all over the country. I had cause to suspect that the murders were demigod-related, and should have given it to a colleague. But I didn't, and they found out about me, and they shot me."

"With Imperial golden bullets?" Jason's voice was strained. If they were…

"Yes." Reyna's voice and eyes were calm, accepting.

"Fuck!" a yell tore from his throat. "How—how could I—Rey, you—fuck—"

"Hey, calm down, Sparky," Reyna laughed, reaching out to her old friend. He responded immediately, shoulders relaxing at her voice and touch, though his eyes flicked up and down to inspect her body.

"Rey, are you… are you going to be okay?" Jason's voice shook. His grip tightened on her hand, knuckles white from the strain. A lump rose in his throat at the thought of Reyna getting hurt. _His_ Reyna, the girl he had grown up loving and the girl he had let slip through his fingers.

And he had absolutely no right to talk about her that way, as if he ever deserved to have her by his side, as if she could love him after all the heartbreak he had caused her.

"Jason… I've made my peace with it."

A tear fell from the edge of her eye, just as one slipped down Jason's face. Reyna stared at the face of her best friend, so earnest, dressed and looking so collected but his eyes, broken shards of glass, telling a different story altogether.

"No, no, no," Jason shook his head, edging closer to her bed and sitting on the edge so that they were face to face. "There must be a way. I'll take you back to camp. Come with me, I'll fly us there right now and I'll get Will to see what he can do."

With her other hand, Reyna reached up to touch his cheek and cupped his jaw with her fingers. "He's tried. It's impossible."

"We _are_ the impossible, Rey. It's not impossible, and even if it is, we can make it possible. Together, just like old times. No quest was impossible for us."

"Stop, Jase, just… stop." He halted in his rambling, laser focussed on Reyna's words. She smiled, this time with a hint of sweet melancholy. "It's okay. I'm okay. I've already said my goodbyes to Nico, Percy, Gwen and the others. They're pulling the plug on me at sunset."

"So I'm the last one?" Jason asked. His voice came out smaller and younger than Reyna remembered.

"I wanted to see all the people I ever cared about one last time. I needed to tell them that I never stopped caring, even after I left my old life behind. I had to make sure you would all have one last memory with me, to see if you would be fine."

"I found you after fifteen years of missing you and now you're just going to _leave_?" The tears were flowing freely down Jason's face now. He didn't care about how stupid and useless it was, nor how messed up it would make him look. All he cared about was Reyna. His heart felt like it was being ripped out of his chest, but at the same time, he felt nothing.

"Yeah, I'm giving you a taste of your own medicine, Grace. See how I felt when you left me for Piper." Jason almost choked at Reyna's words and smirk.

"This isn't funny, Rey! Once I remembered, I broke up with her because she wasn't the one. I made a team to search for you."

"Thank you." Reyna felt warm at the knowledge that Jason had not forgotten her for a second time. "I wish I would have known."

"You know, it's always been something or another that's ripped us apart just before we could… be together. Our timing is just terrible."

Reyna nodded sadly. "First Juno, then Piper, then this. Time failed us again and again."

He brought a hand to push a strand of dark hair out of her face. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. For everything I've done. And everything I could have done but didn't do."

"I forgave you fifteen years ago, Jason." She entwined their fingers together, revelling in the almost scalding warmth of his touch. Securing a handhold, she prepared herself for the transfer. "This isn't goodbye. I'll see you again in Elysium."

Jason felt her hand heat up in his, a familiar feeling that he knew he had experienced before but couldn't quite place. "This time, wait for me, okay? Time can't fail us now. We have forever to fall apart and come back together."

She smiled and leaned towards him as he pressed their foreheads together, their joined hands resting between their hearts. Her other hand moved to grasp the plastic cord that connected her to the biggest machine in the room.

The heat between their hands intensified. Jason felt energy surging through his body, strength and courage and warmth surging through his veins. And suddenly, he knew what that feeling was, but this time, it was different. Something else, an emotion, was interlaced with Reyna's power.

"I love you, Rey." He whispered these words against her lips, closing the space between them.

"I know."

The snap of a plug pulling free, the whoosh of a final drop of energy, the red rays of last sunlight dimming beneath the hills.

Jason took a deep breath, then carefully pulled Reyna's body free from all the machinery and cords, gathering her in his arms and opening the window.

"You up for one last flight?" he grinned, knowing there would be no answer. "I'm a little rusty, so you better hold on tight for a bumpy ride."

 _"Airhead."_

He could almost feel her playful punch at his shoulder. In his head, she yelped and gripped his shirt as he jumped off the ledge.

"Rey, I'm bringing you back home."

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Did it give you the feels? Because I cried while I was writing this. I hope the sadness and bittersweetness carried over to you while reading. Give me a follow and review! It means a lot.

I just had to write something that incorporated my username and maybe portray why exactly I chose it. Actually, this went way beyond the small headcanon that I had on my bus ride home from school, and I just typed and typed and cried and cried (when I reached home, alone, of course).

In other news, I shall be working on a Captasha Civil War fic soon. I've missed that pairing, and now I have renewed inspiration.

How AMAZING was Tom Holland as Spiderman (not a fan of the hyphen in the name)?! Love that guy. Seriously.

And finally, remember to follow me on Tumblr at donot-notdothis dot tumblr dot com! :)

time-failed-us


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